Farming funding shake-up set to be announced

A radical shake-up over public funding to farmers in Wales is due to be announced today.

Natural resources minister Alun Davies promised a ‘radical’ overhaul of the payments which come from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

Farmers’ leaders are braced for a fall in direct support after Mr Davies announced last year that he would be pushing for more self-sufficiency in the industry.

Direct support to farmers was expected to be £1,870m from 2014-2020, with £296m allocated for rural development schemes.

The budgets for both are being reduced by 12.6% and 5.5% and the minister aims to use 15% of the money for rural development.

Mr Davies said: “What I am going to be announcing today is a restructure of agricultural support in Wales, probably the most radical change we have seen for decades, and we are going to be announcing a series of investments to make agriculture more efficient and profitable in the future.

“What we are seeking to do is to invest in businesses, in business growth and agriculture... and also want to make agriculture more sustainable.”

Farmers warned they would struggle to compete with British and European rivals following a decision to 'siphon 15% off direct payments’.

NFU Cymru said the 15% top-slicing of farm payments made a mockery of the EU’s “Common” Agricultural Policy, with many member states implementing much smaller redistributions.

NFU Cymru president Ed Bailey said last month: “It will make it far tougher for them to compete in the marketplace against food producers from other countries.

“I fear we could see food production exported from Wales to other areas of the UK and Europe where their Governments continue to back farmers.”

The redistribution process, known as modulation, will see £286m taken from Pillar 1 direct payments over the next seven years to fund the Pillar 2 Wales Rural Development Plan (RDP) .

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Mark Thomas

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.